Indonesia Peace Talks End Without Pact

Two days of talks between separatist rebels and Indonesian officials ended Sunday with no agreement on how to salvage a faltering peace pact and avert war in the resource-rich province of Aceh.

As the two sides sat down for the second day of negotiations in Tokyo, thousands of Indonesian troops massed in the province, poised to attack. But despite the threat of war, the rebels refused to comply with Indonesia's demand to disarm and accept special autonomy, not independence.

The chief rebel negotiator said he believed the Indonesian government was "looking for a way to declare war" and had no intention of compromise.

"We will oppose the onslaught," Mahmud added. "We will fight for independence."

Indonesia's chief government negotiator said the two sides "nearly reached an agreement" during the roughly 13 hours of talks Sunday.

But he said the issue of independence for the region was not on the table.

"One thing that is not negotiable is the integrity and sovereignty of the country," said Indonesian chief negotiator Sastrohandoyo Wiryono.

Jakarta was open to the option of further talks, though none had been set, Wiryono said.

The sides said they went into the talks seeking an agreement, but officials in Jakarta gave the rebels little room.

"We have presented our conditions to them, we are still waiting for a response," Maj. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, a senior official from the Indonesian Security Ministry said in Jakarta before the talks broke up Sunday night. "If it is not positive, then the delegation will be ordered home."

Yutaka Iimura, Japanese ambassador to Indonesia and co-chair of the talks, opened the Sunday session saying, "the peace process in Aceh is at a critical juncture."

Indonesian government troops appeared to be ready for war.

Armored vehicles rumbled through the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, while soldiers took up positions at key locations in the city.

"These are the final minutes," said Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus Komarno. "We are waiting for instructions from Jakarta."

After Saturday's meeting, Indonesian security chief Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono told reporters in Jakarta it was "almost certain" that President Megawati Sukarnoputri would order a military strike if the talks ended in failure.

The two-day peace talks in Tokyo were arranged hastily under pressure from international donors alarmed by the prospect of a return to hostilities in Aceh, where more than 12,000 people have been killed in fighting since 1976. Both sides have been accused of committing numerous atrocities in the past.

The agreement signed in Geneva on Dec. 9 halted a 26-year insurgency in the oil- and gas-rich province 1,200 miles northwest of Jakarta. But it has unraveled in recent months following violence by both sides and mutual recriminations.